Internal-combustion motor



Jan. 2 1945.

s. J. PovER y INTERNAL-COMBUSTION MOTOR Filed Aug.` 28. 1942 :s Sheets-sheet 1 Siam@ I. PO

Uness Herber 5. Covey Jan. z, 1945. s. J. pov@ 366,213

' l INTERNAL-GOMBUSTICN MOTOR Filedug. 28, 1942 v 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan. 2, 1945. s. J. PovER INTERNAL-COMBUSTION MOTOR Filed Aug. 28, 1942 s sheets-sheet s .Snoentor Skull-eg I Poyerf C@ witness Her-'bert El. Coveg Patented Jan. 2, 1945 INTERNAL- COMBUSTION MOTOR Stanley J.- Pover, Denver, Colo., 'assigner to William E. Hughes,

. and Charles J. Hughes i y 'Application August 28,l 1942, Serial No. 456,470

- s claims. tcl. 12a-i4) This invention relates to internal combustion motors and more particularly to a motor in which a rotor is rotated continuously in one direction by a; succession of explosion impulses applied intermittently thereagainst.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a uni-directional, continuously rotating. internal combustion motor which will operate efficiently and economically.

A further object of this invention is to provide a construction in which -both the rotor and the stator may be uid cooled.

A 4further object is to provide a construction of this type in which the movable abutments which define the end walls of the compression and the explosion chambers may be properly moved with a minimum of friction and without interfering materially with the operation of thev motor.

A further object of the invention is to provide a motor of this type which has such' as arrangement and construction of rotor, stator and abutment parts that a combustible gas may be sequentially compressed by lone set of lobes on the rotor and then exploded against another set of lobes, and wherein the gas is transferred from a compression to an explosion chamber, while remaining-in place between the rotor and stator and the associated abutments, so as to avoid using by-passes and controlling valves.

Lafayette M. Hughes, Jr.,

In the embodiment illustrated in the drawings,

the stator is shaped as a hollow outer shell having an inner wall ill providing a cylindrical inner surface and an outer casing wall Il spaced therefrom. Inner end walls l2 and I3 cooperate with the peripheral wall l to form a drum like stator chamber Within which the rotor is mounted.

A further object of the invention is to provide y a valveless -motor of this type in which the flow of gas to and .from the motor chambers is lcontrolled only by the requirements of the operating rotor and stator parts.V Further objects'wlll be apparent in the following disclosure.

Referring to the drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment of this invention:

Fig. 1 is a vertical cross section through the motor; taken approximately on the line I'-I of Fig. 2:

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken approximately on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail of the lower part of Fig. 1, with the rotor in a position of maximum gas compression; l

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional detail showing the spark plug and associated explosion chamber;

Guter end walls M and l5 form with the peripheral wall Il and associated parts a casing 4arranged to hold a fluid coolant around the inner stator walls. A shaft I6 is suitably supported within bearings il on the stator end walls. The rotor is suitably iixed on this shaft and arranged to rotate within the stator.

The rotor is a drum shaped body having its outer peripheral wall shaped to form one, two or more narrow lobes I8 and a like 'number of Wide lobes 20 arranged alternately and which revolve close to the stator wall It. The two narrow lobes I8 shown in the drawings are arranged .to revolve substantially in contact with the interior surface of the wall lll. of the stator, while the lobes 2i) are spaced slightly from that inner stator wall. Between the lobes, the peripheral rotor wall 2| is substantially cylindrical. and the radius "of each intermediate cylindrical portion 2| is materially less than the radius of the stator wall Ill, as shown, so as to provide adequate compression and combustion spaces vbetween the lobes and the adjacent peripheral stator and rotor walls, as well as the associated end walls and the movable abutments. The peripheral surface of each of the narrow lobes I8 is substantially cylindrical and arranged to t slidingly against the stator wall throughout a substantial radial arc and the entire length of the operative portion of the casing. The wide lobes 20 have outer partially cylindrical faces concentric with the inner rotor has two end walls 22 connected by a hub 23 mounted on the shaft I6 and keyed thereto. Strengthening walls 2t of suitable shapes and constructions are provided and these may be provided with perforations 25 to permit coolant water to circulate therethrough. The end walls Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional detail of a Y sliding vane and its controlling cam; andv Fig. 7 is a detail of a slide groove and associated armwhich moves the vane.t

|32 and I 3 of the stator casing have inner vertical plane faces 26 (Fig. 2) slidably tting against the outer plane surfaces of the rotor end walls I 'seven illustrated in the drawings,

30, 3i, 32,'33, 34, 35 and 36 and their mountings z2, and the stator parts form substantially gas tight end walls for the compression and combus- 'l shown in the drawings as slidable vanes, are

mounted on the stator casing in such a manner that they may remain substantially in contact with the peripheral surface of the rotor.' There are four lobes on the rotor and in order to have the motor fire in a continuing' sequence, I prefer that the vanes be in an odd number, such as the These vanes are alike and may be described with reference to vane Sil. This vane or'abutment is substantially rectangular in both longitudinal and transversesection and it extends the entire distance between the faces 26 of the inner walls o' the stator. Each vane makes substantially a sliding c ontact with the peripheral surface formed by the lobes I8 and and the intermediate surface portions 2i of the rotor. Hence, each twopair of varies forms with the stator and rotor parts a chamber within which the gas may be compressed or burned.

Each vane fits slidably between parallel walls 31 arranged preferably substantially parallel with a radial plane of the rotor. These walls 31 con- -nect the inner and outer walls it and II of the stator and thus form strengthening and supporting ribs therefor. The space therebetween which carries the slide vane may open outwardly to the atmosphere as illustrated. The spaces 38 between The vanes are shaped and arranged to make a substantially sliding contact withthe outer peripheral wall of the rotor, but in order to minimize friction and yet have the vanes travel properly and always -substantially in contact with the rotor, I have mounted eachof these Yanes so that it may be moved by means of a cam and cam follower. For this purpose, two cams are arranged as rings t6 (Fig..2) removably secured in the opposed ribs of each pair of adjacent vanes connect with the spaces between the vertical walls I2 and I5 and I3 and I4 and thus form a. con

tinuous chamber within the stator through which water may circulate. Suitable spring pressed or resilient sealing strips 39 (Fig. 6) may be mounted within inner grooves of the walls 3'! and arranged to contact slidably with the side faces of the vane so as to prevent the leakage of gas past the same. Similarly, suitable spring pressed or resilient seals, such as the. seals 43, may be provided for other surfaces of the vanes as required to prevent improper passage of gas to or from the compres-` sion and combustion chambers, The constructions and arrangements of such sealing strips may be made as desired.

Since each abutment slide is required to make lsubstantially a esliding contact with the periph# and preferably at as illustrated, which is arranged to slide readily on the peripheral surface of the rotor. Therocking member 40 fits within a cup shaped bearing 4I in the inner edge face 4of each slide 30. It may make either a bearing contact with that face or preferably be mounted as illustrated on a pair 'of pivot Pins 42 which position and supportthe rocker 40 relative'to the main body of the slide 30. The contact face of the rocker may have a pair of spring pressed or resilient sealing strips 43 (Fig. 6) which maintain contact with the peripheryro! the rotor and compensate for any lostmotion or improper action on the part of the control cams.

Animportant feature of this' construction lies in the fact that the abutments or' sliding vanes are mounted on the stationary casing or stator so that they are no1; ail'ected by centrifugal force.

.This rocker 40 has its inner face suitably shaped,

grooves in the outer end walls 22A of the water cooled rotor drum by suitable screws The cams may be shapedl to provide .grooves so as to control both the in and the out motion of the slide vanes. The face of each of these cam rings is shaped to be substantially concentric with 1 the rotor face or such that the follower riding thereon will move the Vanes properly. Each cam ring 46 is made removable so that it may be easily fashioned and properly mounted in place.

nected to the ends of each slide vane. 'I'hese arms 48 likewise pivotally support'the pins 42 of the Vane rockers 40 as shown. The outer ends of the pair of arms 48 are secured by screws tothe ends of the vane so that the arms and vane form a unit which moves in and out as determined by the shape of the cam. The arm 48 slides in a groove 49 which is formed on the stator wall (Fig. 7) 'so that gas will not leak past the same.

I'he cam path is so shaped and arranged that each rocker 40 of the slide vane will travel substantially in contact with the peripheral surface of the rotor, and yet the vane will not have to be moved radially outwardly by the peripheral surface of the rotor lobes. This avoids any substan-l tial friction between the parts and undue wear at a point where the friction would otherwise be lto move by accurately shaped cammembers arranged outside of the rotor and which arenot subjected to the high temperature conditions prevailing within the explosion chambers Another important feature of the invention resides in having the gas inlet and outlet passages arranged within the rotor. The mixture of combustlble gas, such as a gasolene and air mixture, is .drawn from a suitable carburetor mounted outside of the stator, and into an annular passage 5I at the right hand side of the stator (Fig. 2). Within the rotor and close to its inner hub or bearing shell 23 are two semi-circular intake passages 52 arranged concentrically with the rotor axis'which connect with conduits 54 opening through the rotor periphery. Telescoping concentric flanges 55 on the rotor and stator aid` in forming a seal, and the vparts, may be suitably sealed. Each of the intake conduits 54 is shaped as an outwardly expanding, somewhat spirally shaped pipe which opens just at the rear of the narrow lobe I8 of the rotor into the gas chamber between the rotor and stator walls. The pipe I4 also flares laterally so that it extendssubstan- 'I'he cam rollers 41 which ride on the cam path are carried on pivot pins mounted on slidablearms 48 which are con-A terclockwise or in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1. There are two inlet pipes 54 and two exit .pipes 58 arranged in the opposite halves of the rotor. Each of the exit pipes B communicates with a semi-circular passage 59 (Fig. 2) which Y opens into an annular passage 60 (Fig. 4) in the left hand side of the stator casing. This annular passage 60 communicates through an outlet pipe 6I with the atmosphere. It will be observed that the gasv inlet 52 is located as near as possible to the axis of the rotor, so that centrifugal force aids somewhat in introducing the gas into the compression chamber. 'I'he exit pipe is shown as openinginto the combustion space in such a direction acto form an open ended horn that moves forward and sweeps the gases out of that combustion space after the explosion.

A set of spark plugs 64, illustrated diagrammatically in the drawings, are arranged in .ad-

vance of and close to each of the slide varies 30 to 36 inclusive. Each spark plug is mounted on and projects inwardly through the stator wall I3', so that the spark may be formed in a recess at the inside of the wall I3. A wall 65 connecting between the stator walls I3 and I4 (Fig. 5) forms a pocket which carries the plugiand prevents their details of construction do not constitute a;

part of this invention.

Another feature of the invention resides in cooling both the stator and the rotor by means of a coolant fluid held in chambers arranged to withdraw the'heat directly from the stator wall il), the rotor periphery and their associated parts. For this purpose, an annular fluid passageiil communicating with a suitable supply pipe 'ii (Fig. 2) is arranged at the left hand side of the stator casing just outside oithe bearings. This annular chamber 'l0 communicates with the interior of the rotor through an annular passage l2, and suitablevtelescoping, intertting or sealing parts 'i3 on the stator and the rotor may be provided to prevent leakage. A fluid coolant, such as water, may be circulated from an outside supply through the rotor and stator. It passes through holes in the supporting wall 24 and associated parts and ultimately escapes through a substantially annular passage 14 (Fig. 2) into an annular passage 'l5 formed in the inner side wall I3 of the stator. 'I'hence the water circulates through the stator casing and ,ultimately reaches an outlet passage 1B through which it leaves the motor. The inlet port 'l2 is nearer to the rotor axis than is the outlet port 1li, the preferred arrangement being as shown in the drawings. It will be appreciated that suitable packing or glands or other desired seals may be provided to insure that the fluid coolant does not escape into the gas combustion spaces or leak from the machine.

Each wide lobe 2|) has its outer surface of such dimensions, or the vanes are so spaced, that the cylindrical portion of thelobe surface subtends a smaller arc than the distance between the op posed faces of two adjacent varies. shown at the bottom of Fig. 1 and in Fig. 3, there als Considering the right hand inlet pipe 54 of Fig. 1,

isalways a, space of material volume in advance of or at the rear of the lober which will hold the compressed gas. That is, the gas is compressed between the forward'face of the lobe 20 and the rear face of the adjacent vane or' abutment 80,

3|, etc., on the stator, and the compressed gas (Fig. 3) will fill the space between the vanes and the cylindrical portion of the lobe and-the adiacent concentric portion of the stator casing I0. Then, as the lobe moves forward from the position of Fig. 3 to that of Fig. 1, the gas passes to the rear of the lobe into the space C where it is available for the firing step. These parts may be so shaped and proportioned that the gas has its maximum compression when` the .parts are in the position of Fig. 3 and the gas is not permitted to expand materially before it is moved into the combustion space C. `This condition may be obtained if the volume of the final compression space remains constant or even decreases slightly while the forward face of the lobe 20 is passing beneath the adjacent'vane and is forcing the major portion of the gas to pass to the rear of the lobe. y

The operation of the motor will be apparent by considering the conditions in each of the compartment spaces A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H, v iewing them progressively in a clockwise sequence. The rotor lobes, the, vanes and the inlet and exhaust passages 5d and 58 are so arranged that when the rotor turns in a counterclcckwise direction, as shown bythe arrow in Fig. 1, the combustible mixture of gasolene and air will enter through each inlet 54 and be drawn into the space between the lobe i3, the adjacent` vane' in the rear oi' the lobe and the spaced. stator and ,rotorsurfaces. This serves to fill each compartment space in serial order. Likewise, each outlet pipe 5t is serially sweeping out the burned gases as it revolves from one compartment to another.

the gas enters the space A in the rear of the lobe i and gradually Aills the space between Hence, as

varies sli and 36. The condition in that compartment is then the same as in 'compartment B' between vanes 3U and 3l. Then the wide com- 'pressor lobe 20 moves up to compress the gas against the rear face of the next vane in advance. An intermediate compression condition is shown in space F. The gas enters the narrow space between the lobe 2t and the outer wall lil, and the gas passes over that wide lobe into the space C in the rear thereof. When the lobe 20 has reached the vane 3l then the -gas is fired in the chamber C' by means of the spark plug 64, and the sudden expansion of the burning gases gives a propelling force against the rear of the Wide lobe 20 and turns the rotor in a counterclockwise direction. Then one ofthe outlet passages 58 moves forward into position,` as.` shown `in space D, and as its opening passes beneath the vane 33 the gaseous products of combustion are swept out through that spiral exhaust passage. Then the cycle is repeated as shown in spaces E, F, G and H. In Fig. 1, space E is being filled;

sively around the motor and the explosion im-` pulses occurringat the opposite sides of the rotor provide nearly balanced forces. That is, there are 7 spark plugs 64 arranged in advance of the slide vanes and there are two sets of compression and explosion lobes, so that there will be 14A explosion impulses for each complete rotation of the rotor. The spark plugs and the associated electrical devices are so timed that the plugs will ilre serially when the gas has been swept from the space in front of the widelobe 20 into the space in the rear thereof, as isfound in spaces C and G.

The slide vanes are moved in proper sequence by the connected cam followers il as the rotor and its cam ringsd revolve, so that the vanes make only a light contact with therotor. The rocker strips di) are rocked in their bearing sockets as required by the shape and directional movement of thatportion of the rotor periphery passluble close to but slightly spaced from said surface, walls within the rotor forming a gas inlet and a gas outlet opening respectively at the rear .and in front of the vnarrow lobe, a set of abutments movably mounted on the stator and forming with the lobes and the associated rotor and stator parts a sequence of gas loading, compresing therebeneath. This provides a better gas seal and minimizes the friction and wear of the parts.

Since the cooling water enters the rotor through an inlet l2, which is nearer the axis of therotor than is the exit port TM, centrifugal'force aidsl in circulatingthe Water. The relative positions of these ports in the rapidly revolving rotor may be variedas desired to give a required volume flow of water through the motor; and valves and other circulation control devices may be provided.

It will also be understood that a suitable starting motor maybe connected to the shaft it to initiate the motor cycle. A throttle control may be provided to 4control the volume of explosive or combustion gas mixture to be introduced to the motor compartments and thus control the power output and the motor speed. Various constructional features maybe incorporated in the m'otor as Will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art. Likewise, equivalent constructional features may be substituted for those above described. Hence the drawings and description thereof are to be interpreted as illustrating the general principles of the invention and a preferred constructlonal embodiment and not as limitations on the claims appended hereto.

I claim: n

1. An internal combustion motor comprising-a stator having end walls and a substantially cylindrical internal surface, a rotor revoluble therein having its periphery shaped to form a narrow lobe revoluble in contact with said surface and a wide lobe having a peripheral face portion revoluble close to but slightly spaced from said sur-1 face, walls within the rotorl forming a gas inlet and a gas outlet opening respectively at the rear and in front of the narrow lobe, a set of abutments movably mounted on the stator and forming with the lobes and the associated stator parts a sequence of gas loading, compression` firing and exhaust spaces, means to hold each of the abutments continuously in contact with the rotor periphery and prevent the movement of gas past the abutment, said abutments being spaced about the rotor bydistances greater than the arc subtendedA by. the face portion of the wide lobe, and the wide lobe and abutments being so arranged that gas may b e compressed by the wide lobe and transferred under substantial compression into a small firing space at the rear of the lobe, and means for firing the 'compressed` gas periodically in said firing space. l f l 2.' Anl internal combustion motor comprising a stator having end walls and a substantially cylindrical internal surface, a rotor revoluble therein having-'its periphery shaped to form .a plurality sion, firing and exhaust spaces, means to hold each of the abutments continuously in contact the compressed gas successively in the firing. l

spaces, including a set of spark plugs mounted on the stator and accessible' from the outside thereof, one plug being located close to and forward of each of said abutments, so that the gas may be fired in any desired timingA relative to its state of compression.

3. An internal combustion motor comprising a stator having end walls and a substantially cylindrical internal surface, a rotor revoluble therein having its periphery shaped to form a narrow lobe revoluble in contact with said surface and a wide lobe having a peripheral face portion revoluble close to but slightly spaced from said surface, walls within the rotor forming a gas inlet and a gas outlet opening respectively at the rear and in front of the narrow lobe, a set of abutments movably mounted on the stator and arranged to form with the stator and-rotor parts a series of gas spaces, means to hold each rof the abutments continuously in contact with the rotor periphery and prevent the gas from moving past the abutment, said abutments being spaced about the rotor by a greater distance than the arc subtended by said face portion of the wide lobe, and the wide lobe and abutments being so arranged that gas may be compressed bythe wide lobe and transferred under substantial compression to the rearthereof, walls forming a water chamber within the stator for cooling said cylindrical surface,'wal1s within the rotor defining a water chamber adjacent to and cooling the rotor periphery, means providing inlet, outlet and connecting passages for circulating water serially through said cooling chambers, the outlet passagefrom the rotor chamber being spaced at a f greater radial distance from the rotor axis thanis the inlet thereto so that centrifugal force aids in circulating the water, and means forl firing the compressed gas periodically.

4. An internal combustion motor comprising a stator having endv walls and a cylindrical internal surface, a rotor revoluble therein having end walls and a periphery shaped to form narrow lobes revoluble in contact with said surface and arranged alternately with a lplurality of `wide lobeshaving similar peripheral face portions revoluble close to but' slightly spaced from said surface, .abutments movably mounted on the stator, means to hold each of the'abutments continuously in ,contact with the rotor periphery and prevent the movement of gas pastthe abut- "arc subtended by said face portion of the Wide 'of narrow lobes revoluble in contact with'said Y .surface and arranged alternately with wide lobes 'which have similar peripheral face portions revolobe and the wide lobes and abutments being so -arranged that gas may-be` compressed and then 7 transferred tothe rear of the lobeunder a substantial compression, means including a set of spark plugs mounted on the' stator closely adf jacent to and in front of e'ach abutment for firing the compressed gas, walls forming gas inlet passages opening through the rotor periphery near one end of the rotor and at the rear of each narrow lobe, and walls forming gas outlet passages opening through the rotor periphery near the opposite end thereof and in frontof each narrow lobe.

5. An internal combustion motor comprising al stator having hollow walls forming a cooling uid chamber around a cylindrical internal surface, a rotor mounted therein which has a periphery shaped to formV narrow lobes revoluble in contactwith said surface and arranged alternately with wide lobes having similar peripheral face portions revoluble close to'but slightly spaced from said surface, an odd number of abutments movably mounted on the. stator, means to hold eachof the abutments continuously in contact with the rotor periphery and prevent the movement of gas past the abutment, said abutments and wide lobes being arranged to compress the gas periodically and transfer it under substantial compression to the rear of the wide lobe,

walls at one end of the stator providing a gas inlet chamber, walls at one end of thestator providing a gas outlet chamber, walls in the rotor forming passages opening through the rotor periphery which connect said chambers respectively with the spaces at the rear of and in front of each narrow lobe. walls on the stator forming water inlet and outlet passages. walls in the rotor 'A closely adjacent to and in front of each abutment for ring the compressed gas.

6. An internal combustion motor comprising a statorhaving end walls and a substantially cylindrical internal surface, a rotor revoluble therein having its periphery shaped to form a narrow lobe revoluble in contact with said surface and a wide lobe having a peripheral face portion revoluble close to but slightly spaced from said surface, walls within the rotor forming a gas inlet and a gas outlet opening respectively at the rear and in front of the narrow lobe, a set of abutments movably mounted on the stator and forming with the lobes and associated stator parts a series of gas spaces, a cam track at each end of and revoluble with the rotor which is located inwardly of and remote from said gas spaces, cam followers guided by said track, inwardly extending arms on the abutments carrying the followers, said cam and associated parts -beilng shaped and arranged to hold the abutments continuously in contact with the rotor periphery, said abutments and wide lobes being arranged to compress the gas and transfer it under substantial compression to a space at the rear of the wide lobe, and means for tiring the compressed gas, including a set of spark plugs mounted on the-stator and accessible from the outside thereof, one plug being located close to and forward of each of said abutments. l

' STANLEY J. IPOVER.

forming a water container comunicati!!! with 4 Y said water passages, and means including a s et of spark plugs accessibly mounted on the stator 

